The Gothenburg City Card offers free public transport including trams, buses and some ferries. The standard flat fare is SEK 25. Although you could walk between many attractions around central Gothenburg, it’s a good idea to use trams or buses, if you want to save time.

You can visit the islands in the Gothenburg Archipelago, such as Saltholmen and Vinga, using the City Pass. The adult price for the cruise to Vinga is SEK 220.

The island of Vinga

If you mainly plan to visit museums, then paying the SEK 40 (around £3.60) adult admission fee at any of the museums listed below, gives you to annual pass to all the museums on the list.

Natural History Museum

Art Museum

Gothenburg City Museum

Maritime Museum

Rohsska (Design) Museum

If you are under 25 years of age, admission is free to the above museums.

Dress by Franco Moschino and Roy Lichtenstein at Rohsska Museum

If you wish to visit other museums, e.g. the Volvo or Aviation Museums, most cost around SEK 100 for an adult admission, but are included in the City Pass.

I visited Martiman, a floating maritime experience centre. Standard adult entry there is SEK 120, but it’s included with the City Card.

The SEK 95 admission fee to the Liseberg amusement park is waived if you have a Gothenburg City Pass, but rides are an additional cost. When I was in Gothenburg in December 2004, I really enjoyed walking around Liseberg. There were three million Christmas lights, reindeer drawn sleigh rides and a mini ski slope for toddlers.

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is lovely. If you visit in Summer, the long opening hours from 9am to dusk, offer good flexibility of times to visit. There’s a voluntary admission fee of SEK 20, With an additional charge of SEK 20 to enter the greenhouses. Entry to the garden and the greenhouses is included with the Gothenburg City Card.

The Mansion Garden in Gothenburg Botanical Garden

If you have any questions about the Gothenburg City Card, the online chat facility, found at the bottom right of the Tourist Office website is great. I asked about the opening hours at the Lipstick building, and my query was answered with a few minutes.

My top tip for getting the most from the Gothenburg City Card is to do your research in advance, carefully checking days and hours of opening and ferry timetables. Then add up the admission fees and transport costs to check that these outgoings come to more than the cost of the Gothenburg City Card.

Be prepared to get up early, enabling you to arrive at the first stop on your itinerary just after opening time.

Maritiman is a maritime experience centre located on Packhuskajen quay close to the Opera House. It consists of nineteen moored ships joined by walkways.

I hadn’t planned to visit the Maritman, it was en route on my walk from the Gothenburg City Museum to Gotheborgsutkiken (aka the Lipstick). I’m not that interested in ships, but once I checked that the SEK 120 admission fee was waived by having a Gothenburg City Card, I decided to take a look.

The lightship Fladen, reminded me of the North Carr lightship, which is moored in Dundee in eastern Scotland. The Fladen was built in Stockholm in 1915.

HMS Smaland, which left active naval service in 1979, is the largest preserved destroyer in Scandinavia.

I found it eerie to be up close and personal with the Smaland’s massive firing power.

There are some good views towards the Opera House and the Lipstick from the front of Smaland.

The Paddam sightseeing boat tours pass the Maritiman.

There are another two naval vessels, HMS Hugin and HMS Kalmarsund moored at behind Smaland, which are not accessible.

The cargo ship Fryken was built in Denmark in 1938. It sailed between harbours in Lake Vanern (the largest lake in Sweden), Gothenburg (via the Gota Canal) and the east coast of Britain.

There was some light rain during my visit to Maritiman. I was really glad that I decided to play it safe by putting my camera phone back into my handbag and using both hands to hold on the side of ladders and walkway ropes, as it did get a bit slippery.

There are several Sea Laboratory stations featuring experiments and puzzles located around the Maritiman. Some kids were having great fun learning about hydrodynamics and surface tension.

You should check the opening times at the Maritiman before visiting. Hours vary, and t’s closed from October to Easter, except for the local Autumn holiday, which is usually the first week in November.

I first visited Gothenburg Botanical Garden when I was in the city in December 2004. When I returned to the city in August 2016, I thought I’d like to see the garden in the Summer.

I decided to walk the two miles to the botanical garden from my city center hotel, the Royal Gothenburg.

There is a voluntary admission fee of SEK 20 (around £1.80) to the garden. My Gothenburg City Card gave me free admission to the garden and to the greenhouses, which charge an additional SEK 20 to enter.

Upon arrival I had a seat by the pond.

Will Becker’s ‘Origin of the Species’ sculpture sits in the pond.

There’s also a fountain in the pond.

A bat sculpture adorns the roof above the entrance to the greenhouses.

The greenhouses are home to more than 1,500 orchids.

I almost didn’t bother going into the Succulent House, as cacti aren’t my cup of tea,

But the collection in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden was interesting.

I liked the hanging pink flower below which was in the Tropical House.

Close to the greenhouses is a large marble tulip shaped drinking fountain.

I had an all too brief seat in the Mansion Garden, before it was time to head back to the city center.

I could have happily spent another couple of hours at the botanical garden. But I got a bit lost on my walk there, and the museums which I wanted to visit shut at 5pm.

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is open every day from 9am until sunset. The greenhouses are open 10am to 5pm from May to August and 10am to 4pm from September to April.

I stayed at the Hotel Royal Gothenburg for two nights in August 2016. I was hosted by the West Sweden Tourist Board.

The hotel is a five minute walk from Central Station.

Upon entering the hotel, my attention was drawn to the beautiful painted ceiling above the reception desk.

After check-in, I decided to have a cup of tea and some homemade cake in the lounge before going up to my room. You can make yourself a complimentary hot drink at any time, but the cake appears in the afternoon.

The staircase was very grand.

I stayed in an economy single room. I thought that the room was tastefully decorated and was spotlessly clean.

The room was small, but the large window meant it was light and airy. The bed was comfortable.

The desk area was large enough to fit my Chromebook, my phablet, camera phone and my paperwork. The free WiFi signal always provided me with a fast connection, both in my bedroom and in the lobby.

I had requested a quiet room. My request was fulfilled, as my room faced the inner courtyard.

The bathroom was a good size, with a large window, which was the same size as the window in the bedroom. As bathrooms in most hotel bedrooms don’t have natural light, this was a bonus. The botanic toiletries were lovely.

The breakfast buffet was very good.

There was a wide selection of cold meats and cheeses.

There was a waffle machine. I decided against using it, as I thought that there was high chance of me making a bodge of it, e.g. overfilling the machine so the batter leaked out. It wasn’t such a sacrifice as there were ready prepared pancakes in the hot food selection.

I’d recommend the Hotel Royal Gothenburg. It oozes charm and character, combined with high standards of quality and service, and it’s in a central location.

Click here to check availability and prices for the Hotel Royal Gothenburg.

I was glad that the hotel was so centrally located. I arrived in Gothenburg on the bus from the airport around 8pm after a ten hour door to door journey from Berwick upon Tweed. It took me around five minutes to walk from the bus terminal next to the Central Station to the Scandic Europa Gothenburg.

The room was a good size. It felt a bit stark, but was functional and spotless. I found the bed to be a bit soft for my liking.

My room was at the front of the hotel facing the Central Station. But I couldn’t hear any exterior noise. I loved the fact that the desk was by the large window. This meant that I could work in daylight while admiring the view. The free WiFi had a strong signal.

I liked the black and white tiles in the bathroom. It took me quite a while to work out how to get the water to come through the shower head. You had to push the base of the mixer tap up.

The lobby area is large and comfortable, with plenty of sofas.

I wasn’t able to take any photos of the breakfast buffet, as there were too many guests around. There was a wide selection of quality food and drink, including scrambled eggs and sausages.

Although my room didn’t have much character, it fulfilled its purpose admirably. The quiet room meant that I had a good night’s sleep. The central location was very convenient. I went for a short walk around the city center before dark. The departure point for the cruise was a five minute walk away. The breakfast was very good.

Click here to check availability and prices for the Scandic Europa Gothenburg.

One of the highlights of my visit to the Rohsska Museum in Gothenburg were the ‘Clothes of Memories’ collages by fashion historian Tonie Lewenhaupt. The collages were part of the ‘Only the Best – Fashion Highlights’ exhibition, which runs until 30 December 2016.

I’ve created quiet a few collages myself. The collage technique of using various types of material such as fabrics and paper to stick onto a supporting surface, is one of my favourites. I like the textures and feeling of movement that this technique offers.

I was hosted by the West Sweden Tourist Board on my trip to Gothenburg. The gave me a Gothenburg City Pass which includes complimentary entry to the Rohsska Museum.